


Every Side of Me

by LuckyLadybug



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-10 09:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13498892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyLadybug/pseuds/LuckyLadybug
Summary: A YGO version of the third Pokemon movie. When some bizarre creatures zap Seto Kaiba into their dimension, Mokuba tries to investigate ... only to be placed under their spell. Now the others must travel through Mokuba's dream world made real, try to get through to him, and find the real Seto Kaiba.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The characters are not mine (except the maid Velma) and the story is! David Tanaka is canonically unnamed, but in canon he is the character Duke is talking to near the beginning of episode #46, identified in the dub as his store manager. This is a YGO version of the third Pokemon movie, Spell of the Unown, because while watching it I mused on how it seemed YGO-ish in plot and I wanted to see how a YGO version might work. It has no correlation with the manga-based movie The Dark Side of Dimensions, although I attempt an exploration of how the Duel Monsters anime Seto might handle Atem's departure. It does include elements from some of my past YGO fics (which are on fanfiction.net), including Marik and Mokuba having formed a friendship and Yami Bakura separating from Zorc's spirit and returning to Bakura. Anything from past fics I have tried to explain within the story so it won't be too confusing! Also, hee, since this is based on a Pokemon movie, there are some Pokemon characters out and about!

Mokuba sighed to himself as he stood outside Seto's home office and listened to the conversation inside.

Things had been so strange lately. Well, they had been strange ever since first meeting Yugi, for that matter. But those days were over now and almost everyone had been able to move on.

Almost everyone. . . .

Overall, Seto had been better since Atem had departed for the afterlife. Without his favorite rival to challenge, he had put his attention to more constructive pursuits. Still, Mokuba could tell that he missed those days. He had challenged Yugi a time or so and had found it wasn't the same, even though Yugi had certainly grown stronger as a Duelist. But he knew there was no way to challenge Atem again and he had tried to force himself to accept that.

It was almost like a weird type of mourning, in a way, Mokuba decided. They hadn't been friends, but they had developed a certain respect for each other. Seto missed Atem, even if only for the challenge of dueling him, but he didn't want to acknowledge that because he was trying to live in the present and the future, not the past. Mokuba had tried to encourage Seto to accept his feelings and let them out in the hopes that it would lead to a full healing, but that had gone practically nowhere. Seto was still denying that what Mokuba had said was true.

Today, Seto wasn't at all impressed by something else as well. A search party sent to Atem's tomb to try to uncover more information about him had returned instead with a bizarre ancient box filled with equally bizarre letter-engraved tiles. That was the conversation Mokuba was hearing now.

"What is this?!" Seto snorted. "Alphabet soup without the soup?!"

"We're sorry, Mr. Kaiba," the leader of the expedition apologized. "We weren't able to learn anything about Pharaoh Atem that hasn't already been uncovered. But we found this box in a secluded corner of the tomb. We thought the contents might be of some relevance."

"I don't know what they are." Seto held up a handful of wooden tiles. "But I do know the ancient Egyptians didn't write with characters like these! These look like Roman characters. They couldn't have anything to do with Atem!"

Nevertheless, he was undeniably curious as to how the box had gotten into Atem's tomb if it had nothing to do with him. He kept the box after dismissing the search party and sat at his desk to go through the tiles.

Mokuba came in to watch him before long. He was shuffling the pieces around on the desk, apparently making letters out of them.

"Those are pretty weird," Mokuba commented.

"No kidding," Seto grunted. "They resemble Roman letters and yet they don't, entirely. They have a style all their own." He paused, one hand in the air with a Y tile. "I wonder if the Ishtars might know anything about this."

Mokuba perked up, eager to be helpful. "I can call Marik and see if he can come over and look at them," he said hopefully.

"Do that," Seto said.

It was odd how those most unlikely of people had become close friends, but when the Ishtars had moved back to Domino after Ishizu had been given the assignment of running the museum, Marik and Mokuba had somehow struck up an acquaintance that had turned into a deep and lasting friendship. Mokuba, who was far freer with Seto as his guardian than Marik had ever been at home, was a link to a childhood Marik had never really had. At the same time, they could relate to being locked up in their respective homes without much freedom. Gozaburo hadn't been a much better parent than Mr. Ishtar, with all of his obsessive strictness and cold-hearted attitude. And Marik reminded Mokuba of Seto in some way, with how he had fallen into the darkness and then tried desperately to climb back out of it and make amends for the wrongs he and his former split personality Yami Marik had done.

Seto was alright with the friendship, especially since Marik was responsible and didn't try to encourage Mokuba into doing dangerous things. It meant he had to see Ishizu more often than he would like, but at least without the Millennium Necklace she didn't prattle on about the future so much anymore.

He scowled as he spread the tiles on the desk. He had ended up spelling Yugi and then Atem without half-thinking about it. "Pathetic," he muttered to himself.

He was just moving to gather them up and replace them in the box when a blue light shot out from every tile. "What the . . . !" He fell back in the chair, shocked as what looked like a portal opened in mid-air. Before he even had a chance to react, a strange force pulled him into it and it closed behind him.

"Big Brother, Marik said he'd be right over and . . ." Mokuba stopped short when he ran into the doorway. The last traces of Seto's scream were still in the air as the portal spun shut. The tiles he had been holding in his hand clattered to the floor.

"Big Brother!" Mokuba tore into the room, his eyes wide and horrified. Whatever these things were, they had taken Seto away.

He knelt on the floor, desperately looking through the tiles. "Bring my brother back!" he yelled. "Bring him back!" In anger and frustration he threw them across the room to hit the wall. Nothing happened.

He turned back to the box, digging through it for more tiles. "What are these things?!" he cried. "Where did they take Seto? Why did they take him?! I've gotta find out. Maybe then I can get him back. . . ."

Finally he turned the box on its side, dumping all the contents on the carpet. There was nothing in it but the tiles. He sorted through them, turning each one so the letters faced upward. He was so involved with his task that at first he didn't see them starting to glow.

****

Marik was grim as he rode his motorcycle through the streets towards the Kaiba Manor. Ishizu had been very disturbed when he had described what Mokuba had told him about the strange tiles. She had told him to waste no time getting out there. She and Rishid would follow in the car.

They had all thought the chaos would end with the destruction of the Millennium Items. That had certainly been foolish and inaccurate. First the Spirit of the Ring had reappeared, badly damaged after being separated from Zorc at long last. Bakura had tried to help him and Atem and Shadi and a mysterious angel had granted him a chance to earn a second chance at life. Apparently, he was supposed to help in some mysterious upcoming conflict, for which the Infinity Ring Shadi had given him would be used. In the meantime, he could use it to generate a physical form for himself, but he couldn't try using it for evil or the power would be taken away. Bakura's relationship with Yugi's group had always been strained to a certain extent, and this hadn't helped.

And it hadn't helped when Yami Marik had reappeared, announcing that he had become his own being and not merely a part of Marik, and had abducted Yami Bakura for the purpose of torturing him and "taming the darkness." Marik had helped all he could in that mess, feeling partly responsible. Joey and Tristan, especially, hadn't known what to make of any of that disaster.

Duke Devlin, meanwhile, had had his own problems when drug smugglers had tried to take over the Black Crown Game Shop. Duke had nearly been killed by them upon discovering what they were up to and he had gone undercover, faking his own death and pretending to be someone else in order to investigate. That had eventually brought a stop to their activities, but it had also brought an end to his store manager David Tanaka's life. Duke had never been the same since then.

Marik still wasn't fully clear on what had happened next, but from what he had been told, Duke had tried to get over it and simply could not. Domino held too many bad memories and he had fled to Los Angeles, hoping to ward off a nervous breakdown. There he had met a time-traveler and together they had tried to find a way to get David back. The results had been long, painful, and largely unsuccessful, and when they had finally succeeded, it had temporarily wiped the memories of everyone about David's death. Everyone remembered now, and no one was quite sure what to make of any of that, either.

It looked like this was just the latest chapter in a series of bizarre and unfortunate events. And Marik was both furious and dismayed that young Mokuba was at the center of it.

He arrived at the mansion while barely not breaking the speed limit. Velma the maid let him in with a confused blink. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know exactly," Marik replied as he ran up the stairs. Thinking of what Ishizu had told him, he added, "It might be the Unown."

"Unknown what?" Velma said in bewilderment.

Marik didn't reply. He reached the second floor and quickly found Seto's office. "Mokuba?" He knocked on the door. When he didn't receive an answer, he pushed the door open and then stopped still in disbelief.

Mokuba was standing in the middle of the room, gazing up at an open portal near the ceiling. Dozens of bizarre creatures that resembled alphabet letters with one eye each were pouring out of the portal and swirling around Mokuba, chattering in their language.

Marik shook himself out of his daze and ran into the room. "Mokuba, what happened here?! Where's your brother?!"

"They took him away." Mokuba sounded vague and far-away. "I was just trying to get him back. . . ."

The creatures leaped away from Mokuba and started to swirl into a sphere-like formation, chanting back and forth as they went. As Marik and Mokuba watched, a blue light shimmered in the center of the room and took the form of Seto. He stood and looked back at them.

Mokuba's face lit up. "Big Brother!" He ran at Seto, hugging him close around the waist. "You came back!"

"Of course I came back." Seto held Mokuba and looked up at Marik. "You can go now. Everything's fine here."

Marik frowned. "Everything isn't fine here," he countered. "These things are still flying around. And . . ." He gasped as the floor started to crystalize under his feet. "What's this?!"

"We want to be left alone." Seto looked at Marik and his eyes were colder and harder than Marik had ever seen them.

"Why?" Marik demanded.

Mokuba turned now and his eyes were glassy and blank. "Seto's right, Marik," he said. "They say that if you don't go away, Seto can't stay here. You have to go. I'm sorry. . . ."

Instead of going, Marik ran forward and grabbed Mokuba by the shoulders. "You're under their spell!" he exclaimed. "Your brother must be enchanted as well. If that's really Seto Kaiba at all." He looked to Seto with suspicious eyes.

Mokuba's eyes flickered. "Not . . ." Then they were glazed again. "No! Of course this is Seto!" He jerked away from Marik. "The Unown are right. You have to go away, Marik."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Marik retorted. "Mokuba, you're not yourself! If this was really your brother, my presence couldn't make him go away. This isn't the real Seto Kaiba!"

"NO!" Mokuba's scream echoed heartbreakingly throughout the room. A huge crystal stalagmite shot through the floor, separating him from Marik. More burst up in rapid succession.

Marik stumbled back. The entire room was crystalizing---the floor, the desk, the lamp. . . . Through the stalagmites he could see that Mokuba was unharmed. But at the moment, he had no idea how to get to him. Even without the stalagmites, there was a gulf between them just as impenetrable, if not moreso.

Velma threw the doors open. "What's going on in . . ." She shrieked as the crystalization spread over the walls and outside into the hall.

Marik leaped out of the room, grabbing her as he went. "We have to get out of here!" he barked.

"But . . . the Kaibas . . ." Velma protested.

"We're going to help them," Marik vowed. "But first we need more information on what's happening!"

He ran down the stairs, pulling the shocked maid with him. The other servants, terrified by the bizarreness enveloping their place of employment, soon rushed from all parts of the mansion to join them. Behind them and on all sides, crystal stalagmites were shooting out of the walls and up through the floor. They were barely keeping ahead of the disaster. Just as they burst through the front doors and outside, the crystal coated the doors and sealed them shut.

"My gosh," Velma gasped.

Marik knelt on the ground, staring up at the mansion in a mixture of amazement, disbelief, and horror. Gigantic lotus petals were coming up from the ground and beginning to encircle the newly crystalized structure. If the petals reached the roof and closed, the mansion would be entirely sealed off. Not that it wasn't already.

His hands shaking, he drew out his cellphone and dialed Ishizu's cellphone. "Sister?" He tried to keep his voice even, but it shook regardless. "We have a problem."

****

Ishizu was badly disturbed by what Marik was telling her of what had happened. Still, she tried to stay calm to work out what to respond. There was no sense getting her younger brother more worried than he already was. Rishid, hearing both sides of the conversation as he drove, was grim.

Marik slowly got to his feet, staring at the crystal formation that the Kaiba Manor had become. "I don't understand any of what's happened here," he said. "I thought these Unown only brought people's dreams to life. I didn't think they put people under a spell! But to look at Mokuba, something was obviously wrong with him!"

"There are renegade Unown that do put people under spells," Ishizu said. "It's a little-known tale, but Pharaoh Atem had to stop some of them from turning all of Egypt into utter chaos. He must have had the box with their letters placed in his tomb. It isn't generally possible to summon the Unown from their dimension without their letters."

"And now somehow they ended up in Kaiba's possession!" Marik groaned.

"That isn't as important as sending them back to their dimension now that they are here," Ishizu said. "Unfortunately, penetrating the crystal fortress will not be easy."

"Naturally not." Marik rubbed the back of his head. "I'll probably have to call Yugi and the rest for help."

"That isn't a bad idea," Ishizu said.

"And what about the Kaiba I saw?" Marik suddenly wondered. "It was so strange how I had to go because he was there, almost as if an unbeliever would break the spell and influence Mokuba into realizing that he really wasn't Kaiba."

"And maybe that is exactly the case," Ishizu said. "But if so, the real Seto Kaiba must have been transported to the Unown's dimension."

"Why didn't they simply bring him back out when Mokuba wanted him back?!" Marik finally burst out in frustration. "They're supposed to make people's dreams and wishes reality!"

"I don't know," Ishizu had to admit. "We're almost at the Turtle Game Shop now. I will stop and ask Yugi for help."

"Thank you, Sister." Marik sighed. "I guess I'll stay here and monitor whether the situation is going to get any worse."

"I am certain it will," Ishizu said.

Marik was not in a good mood when he hung up. His worry for Mokuba was steadily increasing the more he looked at the monstrosity the Kaiba Manor had become. What was going on in there? Was Mokuba with a fake Seto? If so, was he in any danger? Was the real Seto in danger? How would the Unowns' spell be broken? How would they even get in the house to try? He snarled, running both hands into his pale blond hair.

"What is that thing?!" a male Brooklyn voice yelped.

Marik jumped. It wasn't Joey who had spoken just now. He turned, not knowing what to expect.

He found himself staring at two teens around his age, a boy and a girl. With them was a Siamese cat walking on two legs. All looked horrified.

"It looks familiar," the boy whimpered. His voice was not the one Marik had heard first.

"It's Greenfield all over again," the girl said in annoyance. "Let's keep walking and maybe we won't have to get involved."

Marik's eyes narrowed. "Wait." He came down the sidewalk and stood in their path with folded arms. "Do you know something about this?"

"We don't know anything," the girl said brusquely.

"Not about this," the boy added.

"About this kind of crystal formation then," Marik pressed.

Something in his manner prompted them to stop walking and answer. "Yes, we've seen something like this before," the girl admitted.

"It was in Greenfield," the boy added. "That's a little town South of here."

"But we had nothin' to do with what made it! Or with what made this one! We don't know from nothin'!" There was the Brooklyn voice again. It was coming from the cat.

Marik stared blankly at the animal. "Are you two ventriloquists?" he asked the teens.

"Why, no," the boy grinned.

"Whatever makes you ask that?" The girl spoke airily with a wave of one hand.

"Do you take me for a fool?" Marik retorted.

"Hey, ain't you ever seen a talking Meowth before, Bub?" the cat snapped.

That gave Marik pause. "I've never seen any kind of a Meowth," he said. "There aren't any around here, or many Pokemon at all, actually. But I've heard of them."

"No Pokemon?" the boy blinked.

"Heh! It's probably like New York City and they're around, just good at hidin'," said the Meowth.

"Most likely," said the boy.

"Well, in any case, who are you people?" Marik asked.

He quickly regretted it.

"Ha!" said the girl. "Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double," said the boy.

Before Marik could get a word in edgewise, the two continued their little performance.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

The cat grinned. "Meowth, that's right!"

Marik was not impressed. "Do people really stand still for you to introduce yourselves like that?"

"Of course they do!" Jessie snapped. "After all, we're the illustrious Team Rocket!"

"A criminal organization," Marik remarked. "I've heard of you, but I never crossed paths with you when I was running the Rare Hunters. We were interested in different things."

"Your organization specialized in stealing pieces of paper," James sneered. "We steal living, breathing creatures."

"Or try to," Marik countered. "You always fail. At least my organization was successful in what we were after. I wouldn't have tolerated incompetence."

Jessie was red with mortification and anger now. "We don't always fail!"

"Oh, not the organization as a whole," Marik agreed. "But the three of you do. I heard about the odd ones out who wear white instead of black and never seem to catch a break." He paused, his annoyed mood softening. "Although I've also heard that the reason is because you're good at heart and so you fail at being bad."

They froze, caught but certainly not about to admit it.

"That's just a rumor started by some people in the organization who hate us," Jessie said hurriedly.

"Yeah!" Meowth nodded. "You think the boss would keep us around if we was really good guys?"

"I don't know and I don't care," Marik said. "We've got completely off the subject. I need to know what you know about crystal formations like this." He gestured at the Kaiba Manor. "My dear friend is in there, apparently under some kind of a spell. He said these creatures called Unown took his brother away. They supposedly brought him back, but he's acting very strangely. And my friend has started to act strangely as well."

Team Rocket looked at each other and gulped.

"We've never heard of the Unown putting people under spells," James said.

"It's a renegade batch," Marik said.

"Then you know more than we do," Jessie said. "Let's go."

"The Unown we saw didn't bring the kid's dad back even though they knew she wanted him back," Meowth offered instead of obeying Jessie. "They got all mixed up and brought a Pokemon that reminded her of her dad."

"So they can get their signals crossed," Marik mused. "But in this case, they either didn't and put the real Kaiba under their spell or they made a fake Kaiba who isn't acting quite right."

"Well, we don't know if it's dangerous," James said slowly as he repeatedly brought the tips of his forefingers together, "but the Pokemon the other batch summoned never hurt the child. Although he didn't know what was best for her, either."

"I'm not going to take any chances," Marik growled.

At that moment his phone rang. "Excuse me a minute," he said. "But don't leave!" He kept watching them as he took it out and answered.

"Marik, Yugi and his friends are coming," Ishizu told him, much to his relief. "Rishid wants to help as well. We'll come by to let him out and then I'm going back home to go through my research on the Unown. I may be of better help that way."

"That's a good idea," Marik said. "I've found some . . . beings who know about these crystal formations, but not renegade Unown. Still, I'm hoping to keep hold of them." He gave Team Rocket a firm glare.

"We can certainly use anyone who has had experience with any version of this phenomenon," Ishizu said. "We should be there in a few moments."

"Good," Marik said.

Team Rocket was staring at him while trying to whisper among themselves.

"This place looks big," Meowth hissed. "The guy who lives here must be totally loaded, even if he don't have any Pokemon!"

"Then there'll be tons of security," James worried.

"And we'll find a way to break it!" Jessie retorted.

Marik hung up. "Try anything funny and I'll know about it," he said. Although he couldn't hear all of their words, he could imagine what they were thinking of trying. "Remember, I wasn't just in the Rare Hunters; I led them. You might want to keep that in mind." It wasn't something he generally liked to bring up, especially now that he was trying to put his past behind him, but he had the feeling it might help in this case.

Indeed, the thieves froze. They hadn't really paid attention to that statement before, but they did now.

"You . . . led them?" Jessie gulped.

"That's right." Marik glowered at her.

"I heard that the leader of the Rare Hunters had a mystical weapon that could put people under his control if he got mad at them," James whimpered.

"If he's gone straight, he probably doesn't still have it," Jessie countered.

"Maybe we'd better not make him mad anyway," Meowth said. "Why take a chance?"

"Good idea," Jessie and James responded in unison.

Marik nodded in approval.


	2. Chapter 2

At the Turtle Game Shop, Yugi and the others were standing in the store downstairs, disturbed by the news Ishizu had brought.

"So I still don't get it," Joey frowned as he leaned on the counter. "Kaiba got kidnapped by a bunch of alphabet letters and then the letters made a fake Kaiba and he and Mokuba are acting weird and now the mansion's turned into crystal?"

"It sounds like a normal day to me," Tristan deadpanned with a shrug.

"It's not a laughing matter," Solomon scolded. "It's like Ishizu said, it seems to be the work of a renegade group of Unown."

"We don't even know what that is either!" Joey cried, throwing his hands above his head.

"It's a kind of Pokemon, I think," Yugi said.

"Pokemon?" Joey snorted. "That kids' card game?"

"Oh?" Solomon raised an eyebrow. "And what, exactly, do you think it is that you play?"

"Hey, Duel Monsters is much more than a kids' card game," Joey defended.

"So is Pokemon," Solomon said calmly. "Like Duel Monsters, the creatures are real. Unlike Duel Monsters, the majority of them haven't been sealed away. They're all over the place. The Unown, however, live in their own dimension unless summoned."

"And the Kaiba brothers summoned them," Tristan sighed. "Great."

"Well, let's not stand around talking," Téa interrupted impatiently. "We can talk on the way. We need to get over there right now!"

"But what're we gonna do when we get there?!" Joey exclaimed. "That's what I wanna know! How are we gonna fight a crystal house and a bunch of crazy alphabet letters?!"

"Somehow you'll have to get inside the house," Solomon said. "But I suppose that only Mokuba can break the spell of the Unown. You'll have to get through to him."

"Marik's an expert on mind-control spells and even he's stumped," Joey countered.

"There has to be a way," Yugi insisted. "Téa's right; we'd better get going. Goodbye, Grampa!"

The teens hurried outside before Solomon could reply. Frowning, he came out from around the counter and followed them through the door. "I've never seen Unown in action," he said. "I'm coming along."

Yugi spun around in concerned dismay. "But Grampa, it could be dangerous!" he protested.

"I'm still coming," Solomon insisted. "I don't like being left behind when you go on your adventures." He paused and glanced across the street. "I don't think he does either."

Everyone followed his gaze. At the Black Crown Game Shop, Duke was coming through the doors and over to his car, along with his store manager David Tanaka. Seeing the crowd across the street, he blinked in surprise and started to walk over. "What's going on, Yugi?"

"Oh, Duke. . . ." Yugi looked from Duke to the car with hopefulness. "Something terrible is happening at Kaiba's mansion. We need to get over there fast!"

Tristan cringed. "'Fast' has a whole new meaning when Duke's driving," he hissed.

Duke looked at Tristan and smirked. "What good is owning a fast car if you don't make use of it?" He flipped his hair and looked back to Yugi. "I can take most of you, but . . ." He looked apologetically to Solomon. "I think I'll be one seatbelt short. . . ."

"I can take you, Mr. Muto," David spoke up.

Everyone was surprised now.

"You wanna come?" Joey blinked.

"I just said I'd drive Mr. Muto over," David said cheerily. "I didn't say I'd be staying."

"Yeah, you like to stay out of life-threatening situations, don't you," Tristan said.

"What can I say?" David shrugged. "I'm a business manager, not one of the Real Ghostbusters."

"It's that bad?" Duke looked to Tristan. "What's going on?"

"Maybe we can talk on the way?" Téa suggested. "There's no telling what's happened by now!"

"Okay, okay." Duke opened the door of his classic turquoise convertible. "Get in."

Everyone piled into the car except for Solomon, who went around to David's more inconspicuous blue sedan. Duke sidled up to David.

"I would have had enough room for Mr. Muto if you had just opted to stay behind instead of going with me for food like we were planning on doing," he said quietly. "You are planning to stay when we get there, aren't you."

David sobered. "If there's some kind of life-threatening danger, Duke, I want to be involved if you are. Yugi and his group take too many chances."

"I try to keep them in line," Duke retorted. "Marik and I are the realists in the bunch." He sighed and started back to his car. "Just be careful."

Instead of making a smart remark like "I always am," David just said, "I will." But after what they had been through in the past, they knew that being careful wasn't always good enough.

Solomon watched David with curiosity as they climbed into his car. As Duke pulled out, David started the engine and kept pace behind him.

"You know, Mr. Muto," David said at last, "Duke sympathizes with you a lot. You and he both tend to get left behind unless some bad guy is using you or unless you invite yourselves along."

"Hmph," Solomon grunted, although he had to admit that did seem to be the case. "Well, I know Yugi is just worried I'm not up to taking part in dangerous adventures like I used to be."

"That doesn't explain Duke, though," David said. "And I've heard it's the same with Ryou Bakura."

Solomon couldn't deny that. "Ryou Bakura tends to keep to himself," he mused. "And I know it's been awkward for everyone ever since the spirit of the Millennium Ring was pulled free from Zorc and given a second chance at life."

"True," David said. "But that's Ryou Bakura's situation, not Duke's."

Solomon paused. "What do you think is the explanation with Duke?"

"I don't know," David said. "Maybe it's the situation with Serenity. Maybe it's because in some ways, Duke is more mature than Yugi's group. Hey, it could even be because they think Duke has his business and he'd rather hang out with me."

"Does Duke want to hang out with Yugi and the others?" Solomon asked.

Now it was David who paused. "I'm not sure it's that so much as it is that he would like to feel included and wanted," he said. "He said he understood when he wasn't called about the Pharaoh's Memories situation, and he did. But he knew that Yugi never would have forgotten to call Joey, Tristan, or Téa in all the craziness. He knows he's not part of that inner circle. Neither is Bakura. So I think that because of that, Duke tends to keep his distance unless he gets dragged into things."

"I see." Solomon looked troubled. "I know Yugi and the others would never intentionally do something to hurt Duke. Or Bakura either, for that matter."

"So does Duke," David said. "And he doesn't really feel like muddying the waters for his own sake, so he hasn't really wanted to bring it up."

"But you're bringing it up," Solomon pointed out. "Are you hoping I'll let Yugi know how Duke feels?"

"Let's say . . . maybe I'm hoping you'll kind of casually plant a bug in his ear," David replied.

Solomon gave a thoughtful nod. "I think I can do that." He turned his thoughtful look to David. "You really care about Duke, don't you?"

"We grew up as next-door neighbors," David said. "Duke's father always tried to keep us apart because . . . well, he didn't believe in friendship. But we bonded anyway. Yeah, I care about Duke a lot."

Solomon smiled. "I'm glad that he has at least one close friend."

"Me too," David said.

****

Seto had been floating through the air for he didn't know how long. It was a strange world, one with a pink and blue sky and no definable ground. Of course, maybe the latter was because the beings that inhabited this world didn't need a ground. The letters on the tiles were alive in this realm, chanting and spinning and floating in all directions. Some of them noticed him while others either didn't or were deliberately ignoring him, but one thing they all had in common was their determination to sing and chant. It was never-ending.

"Shut up already!" Seto exclaimed.

They didn't.

"If you're going to talk, say something useful! What am I doing here?! How do I get back?!"

Still with the endless chanting.

Finally Seto covered his ears in utter frustration. It was hopeless.

"Kaiba?"

He looked up with a start. Atem was standing before him, dressed not as a Pharaoh but as Seto always remembered him, in Yugi's school uniform with the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck.

Seto jerked his hands away from his ears. "What are you doing here?!" he demanded. Suddenly he realized he wasn't sure how to even address him. This was Yugi to him, even though he had learned it was not Yugi at all. But calling him Atem didn't feel quite right either.

"You called me here," Atem said, folding his arms.

"That's ridiculous!" Seto shot back. But then he paused. He had been thinking about Yugi, and Atem, right before all this madness had started. Even so, it wasn't as though his thoughts could actually bring someone forth from anywhere, especially the afterlife.

"Is it?" Atem countered.

". . . I don't know anymore," Seto admitted in disgust. "But as long as you're here, do you know what's happening?"

"Not really." Atem looked at the chanting creatures, then back to Seto. "You must have had a reason for calling me here. A duel, perhaps?"

Seto paused. This seemed almost too good to be true. Yes, he couldn't deny that he had wanted to have one final duel with Atem, even though he had fought against the notion since it was impossible. But now . . . it seemed it wasn't so impossible after all.

He reached into his pocket for his deck. "That's not a bad idea," he said. "Just remember: you're the one who brought it up."

Atem nodded, drawing his deck as well. "And you're okay with dueling as we're floating through the air?"

"It doesn't look like we've got much choice about that, does it," Seto snorted.

"Very well then." Atem's eyes narrowed. "Let's duel."

****

Deep in the Kaiba Manor, Mokuba walked to the window and looked out. "There's a whole lot of people gathering on the lawn down there," he observed.

Seto walked over to him and looked out as well. "It doesn't matter," he said. "They won't get in. And even if they do, we'll keep them away from here."

"Why can't they just leave us alone?" Mokuba said in frustration. "They all want to keep us apart!"

"They don't understand," Seto said. "They think I'm dangerous to you."

"But how could they think that?!" Mokuba whipped around to face him, Tears glistening in his eyes as they flickered back to their normal luster. "Why would Marik think that?! He never has before."

"They don't think I'm real," Seto replied.

"That's stupid." Mokuba clenched his fists. "Of course you're real!"

"We know that," Seto said. "And we don't have to prove it to any of them, including Marik."

"Yeah. . . ." Mokuba looked back to the window again. "But I wish we could make them understand anyway. . . . I don't like keeping them out. Especially Marik and Téa and Yugi. . . ." He paused, frowning. "Hey, who are those people? I've never seen them around before."

Seto looked to where Mokuba was staring at Jessie, James, and Meowth. "Who cares," he said flatly. "They're no one to us."

"I guess," Mokuba said. "But that cat's standing up like a person. . . . That's kind of unique."

"Heh. It must be an illusion." Seto walked away from the window.

Mokuba stayed at the window, spreading his hands on the sill. "I'm not so sure. . . ."

Seto paused and looked back. "Do you think it's important?"

"Nah, probably not," Mokuba said. "Just interesting."

****

It was several minutes prior to the Kaibas' window-watching when Duke pulled up in front of Kaiba Manor. Everyone stared.

"Holy Toledo!" Joey yelped. "What the heck happened to the place?!"

"That's what we have to find out!" Yugi leaped out of the car and hurried over to Marik and Rishid, who were both standing on the walkway and staring down Jessie, James, and Meowth. Baffled, Yugi stopped and blinked. "Uh . . . what's going on here?"

"These are the people who have seen crystal formations before," Marik said with a sweep of his arm in their direction. "And to keep them from making another long-winded introduction, let's just say they're from Team Rocket and leave it at that."

Yugi blinked in confusion. "Team Rocket?"

Jessie looked ready to breathe fire. "Long-winded introduction?!"

Even James looked annoyed. "Our Team Rocket motto is our greatest pride and joy!"

Meowth sighed. "Yeah . . . youse two need some new hobbies."

Joey ran over and ground to a halt. "What the heck?! It's a cat walking around like a person and talking like he's from Brooklyn!" He backed up near Yugi and Marik. "Now that's freaky!"

"Kaiba's house is crystal and the talking cat is what you're thinking about?!" Tristan said in disbelief. "Although that is pretty creepy."

"I consider that I am a cat of the highest culture," Meowth said haughtily.

Téa was staring at the giant lotus blossoms. "What are these for?!"

"They've been gradually moving upward while we've been watching," Marik explained. "I think that when they reach the top, they'll enclose the mansion and it will be even more difficult to get inside, if not impossible."

Rishid finally spoke. "From what I remember of our family's research into the Unown, the crystal regenerates. If we can penetrate it, we must get inside immediately or the opening will close."

"Well, that . . . doesn't sound good," Tristan said. He looked horrified. "Are you telling me we have to bust a hole in Kaiba's wall to get inside?!"

"When the spell is broken, the house should return to normal and there won't be a hole," Solomon said as he and David joined the group.

Joey looked to Duke. "Hey, maybe you could drive through the wall," he suggested.

Duke was not pleased. "And wreck my car?! This is a classic! I'm sure the damage to my car wouldn't disappear when the spell broke!"

"It's crystal!" Joey retorted. "Fancy glass! How much damage could it do?"

Marik stepped forward. "Mokuba is in there," he said. "I don't know what's wrong with him, but obviously something is. And if you're not willing to drive your car through the wall to get to him, I'll drive my motorcycle!"

Duke flinched. "I didn't mean to sound insensitive," he said in chagrin. "Of course if that's the only way in, I'll do it."

Marik relaxed. "I'll drive my motorcycle too," he said. "We won't all fit in your car."

"Oh, I can drive my car in," David said. "Two cars would take everybody in at once, if we squeeze real tight." He cringed, eyeing the crystal walls and lotus blossoms. "I hope. . . ."

"Alright!" Joey jumped back in Duke's car. "Let's do this!"

Jessie stepped back. "It looks like you've got everything under control now, so we'll just leave."

James nodded. "We wouldn't fit in either car anyway."

"You've got enough people for a Scout troop!" Meowth added.

Marik immediately turned his attention back to them. "Wait." He gave them a hard look. "You're still the only ones who have actually experienced being in a crystal structure like this. You might be of some help. I still want whatever help you can give."

"Well, we don't want to give it!" Jessie insisted. "We're out of here, Rare Hunter leader or not!"

Marik's patience was wearing down. "My friend is a ten-year-old boy," he pressed. "His brother is the only family he has. Now his brother is either gone or under a spell and so is he! I know that for Pokemon enthusiasts, ten years old is practically an adult. In many ways, Mokuba is older than his years. But he's still a child. Are the three of you really willing to walk away and abandon him to whatever fate is befalling him in there?" He clenched his fists. "I don't think you are. But please . . . don't prove me wrong. Please."

Team Rocket paused. Marik's words and his slight show of vulnerability were reaching them.

"A ten-year-old kid, huh?" James' shoulders slumped. "I thought it was probably another teenager. . . ."

"He can certainly take care of himself," Jessie snapped. "I did at age ten. So did you. And the twerp always does."

"But bein' under a spell . . . and his brother either gone or under a spell too. . . ." Meowth sniffled. "That poor kid!"

James looked to Jessie. "We know what it's like to be under a spell . . . or controlled. . . . We should help them, Jessie."

Jessie scowled. "You'd probably even want to help the twerp, if it was him!" she snapped.

"I probably would," James agreed. "And so would you. Jessie, this is me you're talking to. I know you're not as cold and heartless as you try to make people think you are. Meowth knows too."

"Yeah," Meowth nodded. "You're soft deep down."

"Oh, alright!" Jessie finally growled. "We'll help!"

Relief spread over Marik's face. "Thank you," he said in all sincerity.

The servants, who had been standing to the side all this time and weren't sure what to make of any of this, looked to Marik in shock.

"Sir!" exclaimed the butler. "You're going to allow these . . . criminals in Mr. Kaiba's house?!"

Marik looked to him in frustration. "We need every advantage we can get. They've encountered the Unown and crystal formations before. That means that they may be able to provide information we can't get anywhere else. We'll keep them in line."

"I hope so," the butler worried.

"If Kaiba asks, I'll tell him you weren't in favor of it," Marik said. "I'll accept full responsibility."

"No," Rishid said. "We will share responsibility."

Marik smiled a bit.

The butler looked relieved. "Thank you, Sir," he said.

"I really don't know what we can tell you, though," Jessie said as they climbed into David's car. "Those things can create reality upon reality! It can change every few minutes!"

"And just about anything is possible," James added. "You can breathe underwater."

"Or make yourself look older or younger," Meowth said. "Or at least, the one havin' the fantasy can do that."

"Then we'll have to be prepared for anything!" Yugi said resolutely.

"It sounds like it's gonna be totally wacked-out," Tristan said. "Of course, it always is."

"But different things could happen this time, since it's all based on this kid's specific fantasies," Jessie said.

"I wonder what Mokuba has fantasies about," Joey mused.

"We're about to find out." Duke got into the driver's seat. "Let's go!"

Several people closed their eyes, not wanting to see the impact. Duke activated the top on his car before revving the engine and plunging forward through the lotus blossoms and the crystalized wall. David was right behind him.

The sound of shattering glass was more than enough to make everyone look up. But even as they flew through the wall into what should have been the Kaiba entryway and the living room, it wasn't.

"Augggh! What the heck?!" Joey yelped.

Both cars were floating in mid-air through what looked like an endless purple sky.

"Eeeek! We told you!" James cried.

"It's a new reality!" Jessie added.

They dove into each other's arms in terror.

David looked equally as shocked, if not moreso. He was tightly gripping the steering wheel, all color drained from his face. "We should be falling," he said weakly.

"Not unless that becomes part of Mokuba's fantasy too," Solomon gulped.

A familiar roar startled everyone present. A Blue Eyes White Dragon swooped by, the wind generated by its enormous wings knocking the cars off-course.

"Blue Eyes?!" Joey shrieked.

"Well, what else would you expect to find in a Kaiba fantasy?!" Tristan retorted.

". . . Good point," Joey conceded. "They're both obsessed with the things."

"Maybe if we follow the dragons, they'll take us to Mokuba," Téa hoped.

"They probably won't lead us to him, Téa," Solomon replied. "If he believes that we can't get close to him because that will make his brother go away, he will have a mental block against anything that could cause that to happen."

"Oh." Téa slumped back. "That makes sense. But what are we going to do?! We can't just float around like this forever!"

The Blue Eyes roared and whipped around to face them.

"Somehow I don't think that's going to be a problem," Duke exclaimed. "It's going to blast us!" He stepped on the accelerator and steered the car out of the dragon's reach. Its fierce attack barely missed them.

"And we'll be next!" David yelped. He swerved in another direction.

"Well, look on the bright side!" Tristan called. "Now we know we can steer through mid-air!"

Joey tried to relax. "Hey, maybe riding in a flying car will actually be fun."

Téa gripped the top of the seat in front of her. "If anybody starts singing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang songs, I'm out of here."

Duke drove into another room. The scenery changed to that of a board game filled with giant capsules. More were floating down from above them.

"Look out!" Téa shrieked. One such capsule was heading right for the car.

David's group was facing another one. Jessie and James screamed, clutching each other in terror. Meowth gripped them both and dug in his claws.

"I should have known there'd be a room for Capsule Monsters," Marik said. "That's Mokuba's favorite game!"

Duke barely dodged the falling capsule. "Well, I don't want to know what happens if we get caught inside the capsules!"

Yugi gasped as he was thrown hard into the door. "We need to try to call out to Mokuba," he decided. "We're his friends; we might be able to break the spell and get through to him!"

"I'm up for it!" Téa declared. She leaned out the window. "Mokuba! You have to stop this! I know you don't want to hurt us, but we're going to be hurt whether you plan on it or not!"

David stiffened as a capsule started to close on the hood of the car and just sat there. "This . . . isn't good," he gulped.

"Too bad the hood won't just fly up if you pop it," Joey said. "That might knock it off!"

"If it was a dream world that everyone could influence," James said. "But only this kid Mokuba can."

Suddenly the capsule came loose, releasing the car as it descended harmlessly to the board.

Téa's eyes gleamed. "I knew it! That got through! Mokuba wouldn't let the capsules really hurt any of us!"

"Now if we could just get him to come out or listen to us about Kaiba," Tristan sighed.

"That's probably too much to hope for," Jessie groaned.

****

The last thing Ryou Bakura was expecting as night drew nigh was to receive a phone call.

It had already been a long and strange day, filled with trying to get Yami Bakura to stop eating meat like a wild animal and brainstorming with him about the bizarre powers of his Infinity Ring. They weren't sure of everything it did, but the fact that it could create solid forms for him was plenty odd and intriguing without unlocking anything else. He could switch between the Thief King form of his mortal life and the Yami Bakura form with which Bakura was most familiar. At the moment, caught halfway between transformations, his hair was Yami Bakura length while his skin was turning a deep tan. When the phone rang right then, they both dove for it. But Bakura, not wanting any embarrassing incidents, got there first. "Hello?"

"Hello, Bakura." Ishizu spoke calmly, yet the concern was obvious in her tone. "This is Ishizu Ishtar. I'm sorry to call so unexpectedly, but I wanted to ask something of the Thief King."

"Come again?" Bakura sat up and blinked.

"Ask him if he knows anything about a renegade batch of Unown," Ishizu requested. "It's very important."

Bakura looked up blankly at the former Thief King. The message made no sense to him whatsoever.

Yami Bakura grabbed the phone out of Bakura's hands. "Yes, I'm aware of them," he said. "Bothersome things. Renegade or not, they still only make things real in their little dream worlds."

"Mokuba Kaiba is caught up in their dream world," Ishizu told him. "If you know anything that could help, it would be greatly appreciated."

"Unfortunately, all I really know is that the one under their spell is the only one who can break the spell," Yami Bakura replied. "Which I'm sure you knew as well."

"Yes," Ishizu sighed.

Yami Bakura hung up without saying Goodbye.

Bakura winced. That was something they would have to work on. "Yami, what are Unown?" he asked.

"Pesky little Roman letters that trap people in their dreams made real," Yami Bakura said, which didn't really clear up anything.

"Why did Ishizu want to know about them?" Bakura pressed.

"Oh, she said something about the younger Kaiba being entrapped by them," Yami Bakura growled.

Bakura leaped up. "Then we have to help!"

"Fool!" Yami Bakura snapped. "There's nothing we can do! Didn't you hear me?!"

"Well, we have to try anyway," Bakura determined.

"Bah!" said Yami Bakura.


	3. Chapter 3

The two groups in the overflowing cars weren't sure what to do now. They were still floating through the air in the Capsule Monsters room, but the scenery was gradually changing and shifting to what looked like a simulation room in the KaibaCorp building.

"Oh great," Joey scowled. "Now what? Are we all gonna pretend we're in Kaiba's virtual reality world on top of the Unown dream world?!"

The roar of a Blue Eyes White Dragon snapped everyone's attention up. The magnificent beast was swooping in from an unknown location. Seto Kaiba---or what looked like Seto Kaiba---was riding on its back.

"Kaiba?!" Yugi exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"

"What are all of you doing?" Seto countered. "Mokuba and I just want to be left in peace!"

"That's ridiculous!" Marik leaned out the car window. "You can't run your company from inside a crystal prison. Nor would you decide to entrap Mokuba in here and never encourage him to get out in the real world!" He folded his arms on the door. "I don't believe you're the real Seto Kaiba. If you are, you're under some kind of a spell."

Seto snarled. "I am the real Seto Kaiba! And I'll prove it. Yugi, duel me!"

"Right here?!" Yugi said in disbelief.

"This proves nothing!" Solomon objected. "If you're a fake Kaiba, Mokuba could dream up your deck."

"And he could dream up Kaiba's personality too," Joey added. "Yug, you're not going to go through with dueling him, are you?"

"I don't think so," Yugi said. "Not like this. It's true; there's no way of proving this is really Kaiba by dueling him." He paused, thinking of something else. "But if I agree to duel you, Kaiba, and I win, will you let us talk to Mokuba?"

"What?!" Joey yelped. "There's no way you'd win! Not when you'd be playing by Mokuba's or the Unowns' or whoever's rules!"

Seto sneered. "He's right. But you like to take on impossible challenges, don't you, Yugi. Why not another one? See if you can beat me. And if you can, maybe I'll think about letting you have a brief audience with Mokuba."

"That's crazy, Yugi!" Tristan exclaimed.

"He's right," Duke frowned. "You can't win in a world controlled by Mokuba Kaiba!"

"Well." Yugi narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to try anyway."

"Oh no!" Tea moaned.

Seto snapped his fingers and a dueling arena appeared below them. "Then we'll battle right here." His Blue Eyes flew down to the floor and he jumped off, pulling his deck out of his coat pocket. "And Yugi . . . this time you're not going to have a peanut gallery."

"What?!" Yugi cried.

Again Seto snapped his fingers. Everyone but Yugi vanished. "Now they're lost in the labyrinth of my house," he smirked. "They'll have to try to find their way back here, or to Mokuba, while we duel."

Yugi clenched his teeth. "Kaiba . . . !"

But then he shook his head. This wasn't Seto Kaiba. He was really sure of that. Still, he acted just enough like the real thing that Yugi was disturbed. He knew in his heart that this wouldn't be any ordinary duel.

****

In the Unowns' dimension, the real Seto Kaiba was uneasy. The longer he and Atem dueled, the more he was sure that something was wrong. Atem shouldn't be here. All logic told him that. And even though he had been forced to accept the truth of more than a few illogical things lately, the fact remained that something about this Atem just didn't ring true. He reminded Seto of the Atem of his memories, in his moves, his speech. . . . It was like his mind had created an Atem that was very realistic and lifelike, yet still lacked that certain something that made someone a real and individual person.

"Well, Kaiba?" Atem broke into his thoughts. "It's your move. Strange---you've wanted this rematch for so long, but now that you have it, your heart doesn't seem to be in it."

"I'm wondering more about your heart," Seto quipped.

"My heart?" Atem blinked.

"You don't seem exactly like yourself, Pharaoh," Seto said. "All your moves, everything you're saying . . . I've heard it all before. There are no real surprises. That's not what I wanted for a rematch."

"I don't know what to tell you," Atem said. "I guess you've made yourself so familiar with my dueling strategy that for you, there can't be any more surprises."

"The real Atem would always have a few in store," Seto countered. "I don't think you're really here."

"You doubt your eyes?"

"I doubt my mind," Seto growled. "I'm dueling my memory of you. You're a delusion!"

Atem straightened, looking him in the eyes. "And if I am?"

"Then this duel is pointless. I want to duel the real Atem, not a memory!" Seto straightened as well. "And I want to go back to the real world!"

Finally Atem smiled. "Then, even though you have forfeited this duel, you are the winner." He started to shimmer and vanish. "Farewell."

For a moment Seto felt a stab of regret, wondering if he had been wrong. But then the letter creatures swirled and chattered and a portal opened up in the floor. The real world was waiting.

He jumped through.

****

Duke was actually surprised when his car landed softly on the grass of a sweeping meadow instead of continuing to float. "What the . . ."

"Well, that was different," said Tristan.

"This must be another room," Solomon deduced. "How strange to think that all of these locations are actually inside the Kaiba mansion. It really looks like we're outside."

"It's nice here." Tea got out, hesitant and worried, and stood looking at the gently swaying wildflowers and bright green grass. Above them, a pleasant blue sky smiled down amid white puffy clouds.

"It's so peaceful it's creepy," Tristan said. "I keep wondering when the Boogey Man is going to jump out at us."

"Hey, if this is Mokuba's fantasy, it's probably really as peaceful as it looks," Joey countered. "Unless he's going to have some more fake Kaibas jump out to duel us too."

"Probably not," Tristan said.

Tea sighed. "Poor Yugi. . . . I wonder what's going to happen to him in a duel with a fake Kaiba. . . ."

"Nothin' good, that's for sure," Joey said. "But at least since it's Mokuba's fantasy, I guess the worst that'll happen is that Kaiba'll beat him. He won't lose his soul or anything messed-up like that."

"That's true," Tea conceded. "But where are we? And how do we get back to Yugi?"

"Keep walking until we get to yet another room, I guess," Tristan said. He frowned. "Is it just me or does this place seem familiar?"

"Hey, you've seen one meadow, you've seen 'em all," Joey shrugged.

"No, Tristan's right," Duke frowned. "This almost looks like one of the areas in Noa's virtual reality world."

"What? Why would Mokuba wanna put that in his dream world?!" Joey objected.

"He did bond with Noa," Tea said. "It was Mokuba's goodness that finally got Noa to do the right thing."

"So maybe there's a fake Noa around here somewhere?" Tristan mused.

"If there is, he'd better be a nice Noa," Duke grunted.

"That was one adventure I wasn't along on," Solomon complained.

"Be grateful, Mr. Muto," Tristan said. "It wasn't any picnic. Especially for me."

Duke cautiously got out of his car and walked on ahead to the top of a hill. "Hey, I think there is a fake Noa here," he blinked. "And he's with Mokuba."

"Mokuba?!" Tea rushed over to where Duke was standing. Noa and Mokuba were romping over the meadow below, playing what looked like Tag or Ghost in the Graveyard.

"Ho boy." Joey dug a hand into his hair. "How are we gonna get Mokuba to listen to us or come with us?"

"We have to try." Tea stepped forward in determination. "Mokuba! Why aren't you with Seto?"

Mokuba looked over. "Seto wanted to duel Yugi. I thought it'd be more fun to stay here with Noa."

"Mokuba . . ." Tea hesitated before plunging in. "You know this isn't really Noa."

"That's right," Duke agreed. "Noa finally accepted he was dead and went on to the afterlife."

Noa turned and glowered at them both. "You're both liars! I'm right here!"

"Yeah!" Mokuba gave a firm nod. "Noa came back! He wanted to be with me!"

"It's just one big delusion, kid!" Joey tried. "You dreamed up all this stuff! The meadow, the flying Blue Eyes, Noa, even Kaiba. It's all coming out of your head, made real by these Unown things!"

"No!" Mokuba stood still, his hands clenched into fists. Above them, the sunny day was swiftly gathering clouds.

"I think you've done it now," Tristan hissed to Joey.

"Mokuba, you must come with us," Solomon pleaded. "Your real brother needs your help."

"Seto doesn't need any help to duel Yugi," Mokuba retorted. "And maybe if he finally wins . . . then he'll have more time for me again."

He sounded so sad and lost that the group was sobered into silence.

"Things haven't calmed down since Atem left, have they, Mokuba?" Tea quietly asked.

Mokuba looked away. "No. . . . Seto's preoccupied a lot. Not just with company stuff, either. He misses the challenge of dueling Atem. He says that dueling Yugi just isn't the same, and of course it couldn't be." He sighed. "So he's been trying to get over his feelings and then all this happened."

"But the Seto dueling Yugi now really isn't your brother, is he?" Tea tried again.

Thunder boomed overhead. "Of course he's really my brother," Mokuba snapped.

"He's probably afraid that if he admits that Kaiba is a fake, he won't have any Kaiba at all," Solomon said under his breath. "Since we really don't know where the real Kaiba is or how to get him back."

Tea looked over at him with a start. "Oh, you're probably right," she said in chagrin.

"Those are lies! All lies!" Lightning flashed as a storm grew in Mokuba's eyes. "Seto's just fine, and he'll come to me in the next room when he's beaten Yugi! I'm going there now!" He turned and fled over the hills.

"You guys had better get going too, if you don't want to be caught up in the rain," Noa sneered. "You're making my brother upset and that's just not acceptable." With that, he chased after Mokuba.

"It can rain indoors?" Joey blinked.

"Mokuba!" Tea called in desperation.

"It's no use." Tristan clenched his teeth. "Mokuba's just bound and determined to believe the fake Kaiba is real. And what if we really can't get the real one back?"

Tea spun around. "Don't say that, Tristan!" she snapped. "There has to be a way to get him back!"

"And meanwhile, we'd better follow Mokuba." Duke frowned. "I wish I didn't have to leave my car here, but it won't travel well over this hilly meadow. We'd do better on foot."

"I'm sure your car will be fine," Solomon assured him. "But yes, Mokuba is almost out of sight! We must follow him to the next room."

The group took off running.

****

David was baffled when his car landed outside a white, two-story building. On the grounds stood old playground equipment and a stray ball or two. Although at some times of day children were prevalent, right now the yard was empty. Somehow that only added to the eerie feeling.

". . . What just happened?" David blinked.

"The fake Kaiba teleported us here," Marik said impatiently.

"But where's here?" Jessie looked around, her eyes filling with unease. "I don't like this place."

"I don't like it either," James whined. "It looks so lonely."

"And how is there an entire building inside a building?" David wondered. "This supernatural stuff is just too strange for me."

"Not to mention why this particular building," Jessie muttered. "What's the significance?"

"Wait." Marik studied the scene a moment longer. "I've got it. It's an orphanage! Most likely the orphanage where the Kaiba brothers were sent after their parents were killed."

Rishid frowned but nodded. "That is a good guess. But why would Mokuba want such a location in a world created from his positive dreams and wishes?"

"Who cares why?" Meowth blurted. "How about we see if there's any food in that building worth eating?"

"The food is probably fake too," Marik said flatly.

"Aww . . ." Meowth's ears drooped. "You've gotta spoil things like that."

Everyone jumped a mile when a portal opened in the sky and Seto dropped down among them.

". . . Well, that was a short duel," David commented.

"What?" Seto looked to David with a start. "You know I was dueling?"

"Of course I know!" David exclaimed. "You sent us here because you didn't want us to watch!"

Seto gave him a look that was both bewildered and annoyed. "What are you talking about?"

Marik's eyes widened. "This isn't the Kaiba that started dueling with Yugi," he realized. "This must be the real one!"

"The real one?!" Jessie echoed.

"I'm so confused," James moaned. "Where did he come from?"

"I don't even know what all of you people are doing here in the first place," Seto said. "I don't know half of you. And why am I here?" He looked to the orphanage with loathing. "When I said I wanted to get back to the real world, this wasn't the location I had in mind."

Marik got out of the car. "I brought these people and others to help you and Mokuba," he explained. "The reason we're at the orphanage is because this is apparently part of Mokuba's dream world. The Unown your search party found sent you away and tapped into Mokuba's thoughts when he tried to get you back. Everything he wanted to have made real has been brought into existence by the Unown. Kaiba, right now, this is part of your mansion."

"What?!" Seto stared at Marik in utter disbelief. "That's impossible!"

"I'm afraid it is not," Rishid said as he exited the car as well. "This is what the Unown do: they create new realities based on the dreams and wishes of the person whose mind they are tapping into."

"So Mokuba has the orphanage as one of the places in his dreams?" Seto snorted. "Ridiculous. He hated when he saw it in Noa's world."

Mokuba ran into the area just then, emerging from what looked like a portal in thin air. "Come on, Noa," he laughed. "Let's play!"

"Noa?!" Now Seto went completely stiff.

"Who's the green-haired kid?" David blinked as Noa also ran through the portal and the kids headed for the swings. "He looks an awful lot like you, Kaiba."

"Nevermind!" Seto barked. "Noa can't be here. That's impossible too!"

"He must be part of Mokuba's dream," Marik said. He watched as the boys innocently swung back and forth, pushing themselves higher and higher. They were purely happy, without a care in the world.

Another retort Seto was about to make disappeared in his throat. "Mokuba," he whispered. That part wasn't far-fetched, he had to admit. Mokuba had missed Noa and had felt very sorrowful at his passing. They had been close to the same age and had played in Noa's virtual reality world. In his dreams, Mokuba could easily wish for Noa's return.

"The Unown also created a fake you," Marik quietly continued. "He's somewhere dueling Yugi. Yugi took a chance on trying to beat him in the hopes that if he won, we could talk to Mokuba."

"What?!" Now Seto had heard enough. He ran over to Mokuba on the swing. "Mokuba!"

Mokuba stopped swinging and looked over. "Did you beat Yugi, Big Brother?"

"No, I didn't," Seto said.

"But . . ." Mokuba gripped the ropes tightly in his hands. "You had to have beaten him! The only things that happen here are the things I want to have happen!"

"I wasn't dueling Yugi, Mokuba," Seto tried to explain. "You've created a fake me that's doing that!"

"No!" Mokuba jumped down from the swing. "That's the real Seto Kaiba. You must be a fake that these guys brought in!" He gestured at David and Team Rocket.

Seto rocked back. "Mokuba . . ." He stared at his brother. "You can't mean that."

"He's still under the Unowns' spell!" Marik cried.

The other group ran through the portal now and stopped short, staring at the unfolding scene in bewilderment. "Would somebody like to tell me what's going on here?!" Joey blinked. "Where did Kaiba come from?"

"This is the real Seto Kaiba!" Marik called to him. "Only Mokuba is too lost in the Unowns' spell to see it!"

"What?!" Tea looked to the Kaibas, aghast.

Mokuba narrowed his eyes and pushed Seto away from him. "You can't be my real brother," he said. "My real brother has time for me again. If I say you're my real brother . . ." He trembled. "You'll just go back to running the company and trying to find a way to deal with Atem being gone. I don't want to go back to that world! It's better here!" He grabbed Noa's wrist. "Let's go find Seto, Noa."

"If that's what you wish." Noa waved his hand and a portal appeared in the air. The kids vanished through it and it closed after them.

Seto ran at it anyway. "Mokuba!" He stumbled, nearly falling into the wood chips around the swings.

"It's useless," Marik said quietly. "He's gone again."

"This didn't happen in Greenfield," Jessie frowned. "Well, the little girl resisted going back to the real world, but her real father didn't come back to try to help her make the decision. He didn't come back until everything was all over. He was stranded in the Unowns' dimension until then."

James nodded. "For some reason, when they went back, he came back to the real world. Almost like an exchange."

"So then, since all the illusions are still real . . ." Tristan looked to Seto with suspicions reigning in his eyes. "Maybe you're not the real Kaiba!"

"Get real," Seto snarled. "I am the real Seto Kaiba!"

"Then where've you been?" Joey demanded.

"I was in another dimension, dueling a fake Pharaoh," Seto said impatiently. "But I realized he was a fake and I wanted to come back here. Only nothing here is real, either."

"Mokuba's feelings are real," Duke said. "It's because of his feelings that all of these things were brought into reality by the Unown." He looked around at the orphanage. "For some reason, he wanted this place here."

Seto looked away. Something Mokuba had said to him in Noa's world was coming back now. "I liked things the way they were back then. You actually smiled!"

"You know the reason, don't you?" Marik spoke.

Seto looked to him. "Maybe I do. But what I want to know is, how do we get Mokuba to want to listen to us and end all this?"

"I think," Solomon said quietly, "only you can answer that, Kaiba."

"We'd better try again to catch up with him," Duke said.

"I think I barely have room for you in my car, Kaiba," David volunteered. "If the cat sits on someone's lap. . . ."

"Hey, I'm good with that." Meowth hopped on James' lap. "I just wish we could get out of here!"

Seto gave him a deadpan look as he slid into the car next to Jessie. "Are you one of Mokuba's illusions too?"

"Me? Nah! I'm just an innocent Meowth caught up in all the madness!" Meowth retorted.

"A Pokemon?" Seto rolled his eyes. "This day is just getting better and better."

****

Back at the Ishtars' house, Ishizu sat at her desk and turned another weathered page of an ancient Egyptian manuscript. "Have either of you found anything?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not," Bakura sighed. Not knowing what else to do to help, he had convinced Yami Bakura that they should go to Ishizu's and help with her research. And, although annoyed and displeased, Yami Bakura had gone along with it.

Yami Bakura scowled. "This is all pointless." By now he had fully transformed to his Thief King form and was sitting Indian-style on the floor as he looked at the old Egyptian writings. "Hardly anyone has ever encountered renegade Unown."

"What about you?" Ishizu asked.

"Hmm?" Yami Bakura looked up at her with a start.

"Were you around when Pharaoh Atem had to deal with them?" Ishizu wondered. "You seem to be very opinionated on them, as though you were speaking from personal experience."

Bakura looked to the Thief King in surprise. In all the chaos, he hadn't even thought about that.

Yami Bakura looked away, suddenly very interested in the old writings. "Yes, I was there," he said gruffly. "But there isn't much I can tell you. Much of Egypt fell under their spell and Atem had to break through the crystal fortress to try to reason with all of them. Some of them were easier to reason with than others. But the only way to break the spell was for everyone to realize their dream worlds were fake and choose to return to reality."

"Were you under their spell too, Yami?" Bakura quietly asked.

Yami Bakura didn't answer. The silence was enough to convince Bakura and Ishizu to leave the matter alone, but it was also very telling of the truth.

"Oh my." Bakura rocked back, staring at another page. "It says here that the longer the Unowns' spell stays in place, the more the real world will fall into it!"

Ishizu stiffened. "Does it say how long before that starts to happen?"

"It starts slowly at first, usually after only hours," Bakura read. "But the longer it's there, the quicker the spell will spread. It doesn't give a definite time for that."

Ishizu took out her cellphone and dialed Marik's number. A tinny voice sounded in her ear. "We're sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number and try again."

Yami Bakura gave her an annoyed look. "Cellphone signals can't penetrate the Unowns' crystal structures."

"Then we have no way to warn them that they must break the spell before Domino City starts to fall," Ishizu fretted.

"And here's one other little piece of bad news," Yami Bakura growled. "It says that if the spell spreads until the entire world is covered, it's permanent. Not even the Unown will be able to reverse it."

"Oh!" Bakura looked to him in horror. "We can't allow that!"

Ishizu also looked to the old thief, her usual unflappable demeanor crumbling to reveal her growing distress. "And there is absolutely no way for anyone other than Mokuba to break the spell or even just to slow its progress?"

"None," Yami Bakura replied. "Any attempt at destroying the crystal from without will only cause it to grow faster." He set the pages down. "All we can do is wait."

Bakura swallowed hard. "And pray. . . ."

"As if any god will listen to you," Yami Bakura grunted. "But feel free."

"It couldn't hurt," Bakura said as he folded his arms and bowed his head.


	4. Chapter 4

Yugi glared at Seto as their duel continued. It was a very involved and intense match, just what he would expect from Seto Kaiba. Several times when he thought he had the upper hand, Seto managed to get in a good move that turned things in his favor again.

"Well, Yugi, you're not doing so well. Maybe you should concede defeat while I'm ahead."

Yugi frowned. In spite of everything, this Seto didn't quite have all of his usual fire. He wasn't as into the psychological aspects of the game as he usually was. Yugi attributed this to him being a fake Seto dreamed up by Mokuba. As an idolizing younger brother, Mokuba naturally didn't see Seto as being as sharp and cold as he could sometimes appear.

The sudden roar of a Blue Eyes White Dragon brought both of them to attention. The beast was flying into the room, this time with Mokuba and what looked like Noa riding on its back.

Yugi stared. "Noa?" he said in disbelief. "No . . . he must be an illusion too!"

"Hi, Big Brother!" Mokuba called down to Seto. "Haven't you almost got this wrapped up yet?"

"Almost," Seto replied.

"Well, you'd better hurry," Mokuba said. "Everybody else has brought a fake Seto and they're trying to say he's the real one. But we know better, don't we?"

Yugi's jaw dropped. "There's another Seto Kaiba in here?!" _The real one's been found!_

"Yeah. I just talked to him," Mokuba said.

"And you think he's the fake?" Yugi was stunned.

"Of course he is." The Blue Eyes landed and Mokuba jumped down. "The real Seto always has time for me. He doesn't let other things get in the way."

Yugi's stomach twisted. This was going to be harder than he had thought. Mokuba had also ended up under a spell in Noa's world that had twisted his perception of the truth. That time, it had happened against his will. This time, at least part of him apparently wanted to believe in his dream world and the fake Seto. He didn't want to go back to reality.

"Your brother does have a company to run," he said slowly.

"And we have a duel to finish," Seto interrupted.

"Yeah! Finish it so we can go riding together, Big Brother!" Mokuba exclaimed. "All three of us on the Blue Eyes, just like it's supposed to be."

"If that's what you wish." Seto drew another card.

Yugi looked to Mokuba in desperation. "Mokuba, you have to stop this!" he pleaded. "Maybe you think you'll be happy living in this fake reality now, but eventually you'll start realizing that you've rejected your real brother for a dream. And even if the real Seto isn't exactly the way you wish he was, the real thing is better than any fantasy. At the end of the day, a fantasy fades away. But your real brother will always be there for you!"

"Shut up!" Mokuba cried. He turned, blinking away tears. "I'm sorry, Yugi. But this is my real brother. I don't want to hear any more about him being a fake!"

"Well, you're just going to have to."

Everyone jumped. The cars had finally found their way back into the dueling arena. The real Seto leaped out of David's car, his coat swirling behind him.

The fake Seto rocked back. "What is this?!"

"I'm your worst nightmare," the real Seto replied. "You've stolen my life and my little brother. I want them back."

The ground started to shake and rumble underneath them.

"No!" Mokuba cried. "You're the fake! You can say anything you want, but I won't believe you're real!"

"Oh boy." Joey gripped the seat in front of him. "Everything's shaking! Is he gonna bring the place down on our heads?!"

Several stalactites fell from the ceiling and stabbed into the floor.

"He's sure bringing something down!" Tristan yelped.

Marik ran out of the car now. "Mokuba, stop!" he exclaimed. "Your emotions are causing this! I of all people know the tragedies that can result from letting your feelings get away from you. Don't let that happen to you! You know you don't want to hurt us."

Mokuba stared at Marik and then looked to the stalactites. "I did that?"

"Yes," Marik said firmly.

"Mokuba . . ." The real Seto took several steps forward. "I know I haven't been there for you as much as I should have been. Sometimes it's unavoidable, but sometimes it is. Sometimes even when I'm there, I'm not really 'with' you. You've had to put up with so much because of my obsession with beating Yugi . . . no, the Pharaoh. Now that he's gone, that should have stopped. Instead, I haven't been able to figure out how to deal with him being gone. If it hadn't been for that, none of this would even be happening. It's my fault you got hold of those Unown letter tiles or whatever they are."

Mokuba's eyes flickered. "Seto . . . ?"

The fake Seto frowned. "That Kaiba has always been trouble for you. You've even been the target of his enemies more than once. You're better off without him."

"No. . . ." Mokuba squeezed his eyes shut.

"Why don't you finish the job you started?" the fake Seto continued. "Drop something down on him to finish him off."

"Mokuba, don't!" the real Seto cried.

"Okay, something's gone haywire," Joey declared. "Mokuba would never dream up his brother saying something like that to him."

"Then it's either the Unown or their psychic power acting on its own," Jessie gulped.

James nodded. "In Greenfield, it eventually got to a point where the Unown couldn't even control all the psychic energy anymore. They'd released too much!"

Marik looked to Team Rocket with a start. "What did you do?!"

"Well, we mostly stood around and called out for help," Meowth said.

"Oh, shush!" Jessie hissed.

"You know, nobody could even beat the psychic energy," Meowth remembered. "It was the Pokemon the Unown had dreamed up who finally had to stop it. I guess the closest parallel we've got here would be the fake Kaiba and this Noa guy. But they don't have any psychic powers. And even if they did, they wouldn't be inclined to break up this fake world they want Mokuba to stay in."

Yugi pondered on that. "Unless . . ." He looked to Mokuba. "Maybe they only want him to stay in it because they think that's what he wants. If they knew he really didn't . . ."

"But he does!" Tristan interrupted. "That's the whole problem!"

"Something got through to him," Tea said. "He didn't want to go through with the fake Kaiba's suggestion to get rid of the real Kaiba, even if he still thinks the fake one is the real one!"

Mokuba had been silent, still struggling with that very problem. His eyes flickered again. "Seto . . . Seto would never say something like that," he said at last. "He'd never tell me to do something like that." He looked at the fake Seto. "You're not the real one. You can't be!"

The fake Seto drew back, not even trying to defend his words.

Marik relaxed. "The spell couldn't hold you, my friend," he said with pride. "You're going to be alright."

Mokuba looked to the real Seto, tears streaming down his face. "Seto . . . can you ever forgive me?" he choked out.

Seto drew him close. "There's nothing to forgive."

Mokuba clutched him, sobbing. "I never wanted to turn against you. I never wanted any of this to happen! All I was trying to do was to get you back. Instead, I made everything worse!"

"I'm back now," Seto said. "And you can fix what went wrong. Everything's going to be alright."

Mokuba blinked. "I can fix it?"

"You should be able to," Marik said. "As long as the Unowns' powers aren't out of control." In his heart, he prayed Team Rocket was wrong. In his mind, he feared they were right.

Mokuba pulled back from Seto and took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm going to try." He closed his eyes, desperately concentrating with all his might to make the dream world go away. But every stalactite, each square inch of the strange room, and every fictitious person and creature remained.

"Nothing's happening," Duke said.

"This is bad, right?" David worried.

"Very bad." James quaked. "We're all doomed!"

****

The mood at the Ishtar home had been tense. Ishizu had the news on and they were documenting the bizarre crystal formations in the city. Aerial shots were being taken of the Kaiba Manor every few minutes, with the disturbing realization that the crystal was spreading farther out from it. The substance was capturing anything and everything in its path. Terrified that they would be next, people streamed out of their houses and into their cars, frantic to outrun the mysterious menace.

"We must take some course of action ourselves," Ishizu said in concern. "It will be here in a matter of moments."

"The only thing we can do is run," Yami Bakura replied.

"I wonder if there's any chance your Infinity Ring could do something, Yami," Bakura suggested.

Yami Bakura grunted. "Unlikely, but since we know so little of its powers, I suppose if we're cornered it's worth a try."

Bakura looked out the window in horror as the sound of tinkling crystal grew closer and closer. "In fact, it's coming now!" he gasped. "It's going to envelope the house in a matter of moments! How did it get here so fast?!"

Yami Bakura snarled. "That hardly matters!" He grabbed Bakura's wrist and pulled him towards the side door.

Ishizu ran after them. "If it's spreading this quickly, what does that mean for everyone trapped in the Kaiba mansion?" she worried.

By the time they burst outside, the crystal was creeping over the top of the house and across the lawn. "It's moving too fast!" Bakura cried. "We won't be able to outrun it!"

Ishizu dove for the car, praying she could start it before the crystal stretched that far.

Yami Bakura shoved Bakura towards the car and got in front of him, the Infinity Ring starting to glow as he tried to tap into its powers. "Leave us be!" he ordered the crystal.

"Yami!" Bakura cried in alarm.

There was a giant flash of light. Bakura had to look away, his heart racing. Maybe Yami Bakura would end up encased in crystal, in spite of his best efforts. Then it wouldn't take long and Bakura and Ishizu would follow suit.

When the light faded, however, Bakura slowly opened one cautious eye. There was no crystal surrounding him in a choking embrace. He was still free and capable of looking around. Yami Bakura and Ishizu were free as well. They had been spared . . . but the crystal was on their every side. They were trapped in a small slot canyon while the crystal traveled merrily on its way all around them to cover houses, grass, the street, and whatever else was in its path.

Yami Bakura cursed in Egyptian. "This isn't much better than being encased in crystal. It's stranded us anyway; we won't last long in here."

"They will find a way to break the spell," Ishizu insisted. "They must."

Bakura prayed she was right.

Yami Bakura hated their new situation. Knowing there was nothing he could do, he sat down and glowered at the crystal wall like a caged animal. The growl in his throat completed the picture.

Bakura was always intimidated when he behaved like that. There had been more than one time in the past when Bakura had tried to talk to Yami Bakura and had been snarled at or slapped away. But that had largely been when Zorc had been present as well. The only times when he had acted anything nice at all had been at points when Bakura assumed the Thief King had been in control. Now that Yami Bakura was just the Thief King, the only human part of the fused being, his bark was quite generally worse than his bite where Bakura was concerned. So the British boy went up to his Egyptian ancestor.

"Yami . . ." He shifted, now not sure of what to say. "Years ago, were you trapped in the Unowns' world?"

Yami Bakura turned and glowered at him. "Since you are so determined for an answer, yes, I was. And since I was seeing my fantasies come to life, I wasn't eager to return to the real world when I was called."

Bakura hesitated again, biting his lip. "Maybe you would have been happier staying in the illusion," he said quietly. He didn't ask what the thief had seen. He was sure he knew---for his village to not have been massacred and for his family to be safe.

"What good would that have done?" Yami Bakura retorted. "Yes, it was nicer there, but no one was real. I wanted my real family back, not just my memories of them. I had to come back to reality." He turned to look at the boy. "If it had been you, would you have wanted to stay?"

"I . . . honestly don't know," Bakura had to admit. "If there was no one in the real world who cared, maybe I would have." He tried to smile. "But there is at least one who cares, so I would want to come back."

Yami Bakura just grunted.

****

The mood in the Kaiba Manor was grim. Mokuba could not seem to undo the damage the Unown had caused. Hoping the Unown could, the group was following Mokuba's lead in navigating through what had become of the mansion to locate the Unown.

"They should be right through here," Mokuba announced, pushing a door open.

And indeed they were. The door opened into Seto's home office. The Unown were still swirling and circling and chanting in a sphere-like formation while high above them stood an open portal.

"That song's never going to make the Top 40," Duke said sarcastically.

Mokuba ran forward until he was almost directly underneath the Pokemon. "Cut it out!" he pleaded. "I don't want this dream world anymore. I want things real again! Please . . . please. . . ."

The Unown looked down at him and chattered in their tongue. But the more they tried to spin and undo the damage, the more something else seemed to spin them out of control.

"They just can't make it," Meowth said in sorrowful resignation. "They really must've overloaded their power so's now it's got control!"

"So what can we do?!" Tea wailed.

Stalagmites shot out of the floor and walls while stalactites came down from the ceiling. Tea shrieked. Joey yelped.

"It looks like we're all gonna be skewered sooner or later!" Joey cried.

Team Rocket clutched each other in terror.

"I never wanted to go through this again!" James exclaimed.

"How did we get into this mess?!" Meowth yowled.

"Because we said we'd help!" Jessie snapped. "We should have just followed my better judgment and stayed away!"

"I have an idea!" Yugi suddenly announced. "Maybe Mokuba himself is the only one who can break the spell, but maybe he doesn't have to do it alone. Let's all join hands and concentrate to give our energy and support to Mokuba!"

Seto looked like he found the whole idea preposterous, but for once he didn't say so. He took Mokuba's and then Yugi's hands without protest. Everyone else followed suit.

Mokuba was stunned. "But . . . I've been trying and trying to make them stop. I can't!"

"There must be a way," Yugi said.

"You know, maybe this does make a certain kind of sense," James said. "If this is Mokuba's dream world, he should be able to do whatever he wants, including stopping these Unown! He can will himself to be that strong."

"That's right!" Yugi said.

"In that case, he should be able to do it all on his own," Jessie objected.

"Only he doesn't have to," Seto said. "He never will." He looked to Mokuba. "You'll always have my support, Mokuba."

Mokuba looked to Seto in surprise, then slowly started to beam. "Big Brother . . ."

"Now, Mokuba, concentrate!" Yugi encouraged. "We're all with you. You can make the Unown stop this and return everything to normal! You have to believe that!"

Mokuba bit his lip. "I . . . I can do this. I can. . . ." He looked from the group of his family, friends, and strangers to where the fake Seto and Noa were standing and watching him.

"You can," Seto agreed.

"But you don't have to," the fake Seto chimed in. "You can stay here, where nothing will go wrong again."

"We'll always look after you," Noa agreed.

Mokuba looked away again. "I could stay, but I don't want to. I know you're not the real Seto. And you're not the real Noa. I'm always going to miss Noa, but he's gone. Being with you was all in my mind. But I'm glad being with Seto is real." He looked back. "Things aren't perfect, it's true. But Yugi's right: I want my real brother, not a fake!"

The fake Seto and Noa stepped back. "Then . . . goodbye, Mokuba," Noa said.

"Goodbye," Mokuba said softly.

"Just keep me close . . . in your dreams." Noa shimmered, turning back to a blue light before vanishing altogether.

"I was glad to be your brother, even if just for a while," the fake Seto said. Then he was gone as well.

Mokuba blinked back tears. "I want things real again," he repeated. "Stop all of the dream world, and the weird rooms, and the crystal. Please . . . just go back to normal!"

For a moment nothing happened. But then at last, a blue light shot out from Mokuba and from everyone granting him their support. The crystal shimmered, shattered, and began to disappear into light, leaving the room just as it had found it. The Unown chattered and squealed, flying through their portal. It closed after them and the letter tiles clattered harmlessly to the floor.

Everyone began to relax. "It's over," Yugi realized.

"I . . . did it?" Mokuba opened his eyes. "I really did it!" He looked up at Seto, beaming. "Everything's back to normal again!"

Seto smiled. "And all because of you, Mokuba. I'm proud of you."

Mokuba hugged him close. "Thanks, Big Brother."

"We're all proud," Marik said. "That decision took a great deal of courage."

"Not to mention having enough strength and willpower to make it work," Yugi smiled.

"So it's really over?" James said hopefully.

"Everything looks back to normal," Jessie said.

"We'd just better not get stuck in here like we did in that tower in Greenfield," Meowth said. "We couldn't sneak out until after dark!"

Marik looked to Team Rocket. "Thank you for helping," he said sincerely. "Your knowledge was useful and you also helped by adding your support to Mokuba."

"Well, if we really did some good," Meowth said slowly. "I just hope the boss won't find out."

"He won't hear anything from any of us," Marik said.

"So, Kaiba, what're you gonna do with all the alphabet letters?" Joey asked, pointing to the tiles scattered across the floor.

Seto scowled. "I don't want to bother shipping them back to Egypt. I'll probably lock them in a vault and never take them out."

"That sounds like a good compromise to me," Yugi smiled.

The tiles abruptly vanished into specks of blue light.

". . . Well, that takes care of that," Tristan blinked.

"Just as well," Seto grunted. "They were a nuisance and nothing more."

Marik's phone rang just then and he took it out. "Hello, Sister," he greeted.

"Marik! Is everything alright?" Ishizu asked.

"It is now," Marik smiled. "Mokuba broke the Unowns' spell."

"Thank goodness. The crystal was starting to spread all over the city," Ishizu said.

Marik stiffened. "Did it reach you?"

"Yes, but the Spirit of the Ring managed to keep the crystal from encasing us," Ishizu said. "He and Ryou Bakura are with me."

"I'm glad he could help," Marik said in relief.

Overhearing the conversation, Mokuba looked shaken. "I really could have caused the whole city to turn into crystal?" he whispered.

"Through no fault of your own," James said, looking over at him.

"All you wanted was to get your brother back," Jessie agreed. "You weren't expecting the Unown to take control of your thoughts and cause so much trouble. So don't beat yourself up over it, kid."

"Yeah!" Meowth said. "Everything's okay now and that's the most important thing, right?"

"I guess so," Mokuba said.

"It'll take some time to get over it," Seto said. "I just hope you won't be like me and struggle with it and deny you're still upset even though you clearly are."

Mokuba looked up at Seto in surprise, not having expected him to even acknowledge such things about himself. "Seto . . . are you still upset about Atem leaving?" he had to ask.

". . . Yes, I am," Seto confessed. "And I'll probably continue to be upset for a while. But there's nothing that can be done about it. What's done is done and I have to move on. And not do any more ridiculous things like arrange a search of the Pharaoh's tomb."

"Well . . ." Mokuba said slowly, "maybe we can help each other get over what we're upset about?"

Seto started to smile. "I think we can."

Mokuba beamed.

Yugi stepped back to give them some space. "You know, maybe what happened today will actually turn out to be a good thing for them," he said. "It might help them be more open with each other."

"And maybe Mokuba won't wish that they're back at the orphanage any more," Tea hoped.

". . . Coming to think about it, where are our cars?!" David suddenly exclaimed to Duke.

". . . We'd better find out," Duke exclaimed back.

They ran down the stairs, half-afraid they would find a car wedged in a doorway or standing in the middle of the living room. Instead, to their relief, both cars were visible out the window on the driveway.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about how to get our cars out the doors," David said.

"No kidding," Duke agreed. "So, now you've been involved several times on an adventure with the whole gang. Are you anxious to have another?"

"Honestly? No," David said. "But I'll still come along if you do, Dukey-Boy."

Duke rolled his eyes at the good-natured tease. "Then I guess we'll just wait and see what happens the next time something goes wrong."

"Which could be tomorrow," Tristan quipped from the stairs.

"Or next Tuesday," Joey added.

"Or next month," Duke retorted.

"It would be great if it wouldn't be any time at all," Tea sighed, leaning on the balcony railing.

"I can't deny that," Yugi admitted.

"But I'm sure something else will go wrong at some time," Solomon grunted. "The important thing is for all of you to face it together as family and friends."

Yugi took note of the emphasis and determined he might talk with Solomon about that later. For now, he looked thoughtful as he smiled and said, "That does sound pretty good, Grampa. When we do that, we always come through."

"Always," Marik agreed, smiling up at Rishid.

Rishid smiled back.


End file.
